


Corporate Fools in Love

by ArissaBlack



Series: Corporate Lovers AU [1]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Workplace, F/M, Fluff, Jukebox, Living!Phantoms AU, M/M, Workplace AU, juke, willex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:47:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28132662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArissaBlack/pseuds/ArissaBlack
Summary: Julie has a work-crush and his name is Luke. But the problem with work-crushes is that they never live up to the hype, right?Living!Phantoms Corporation Workers AU
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Series: Corporate Lovers AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060964
Comments: 38
Kudos: 170





	1. All I want to do is just go home

Faint elevator ding made Julie turn her eyes away from the monitor. Through the semi-glass panel, she could see that Mr Covington entered the make-shift hall with a bunch of people tailing him obediently. He picked the door on the other side of the open space to go towards his office. His PA, poor Willie, jumped on his feet a beat too late and was greeted with a stern look. He took it bravely and approached the group with a service smile to hand in some papers and get their beverage orders. Julie’s heart immediately went out to her friend and she thought the least she could do was grab him a nice cup of tea from his favourite coffee shop.

Julie’s job description included vague phrases like “business support”, “delivery management” and “great growth potential” and honestly it was rather hard to explain what her role really was without getting into too much detail. What was easy to say was that she has been on call all the time but also that her working hours were quite flexible – if she wasn’t summoned to do something at this exact second or being preoccupied with a reoccurring task, she could go for a break anytime she wanted. That was the case for her and the other support, Flynn, but not for William, so the girls always tried to make sure he was okay while slaving at the desk.

Flynn’s seat was far away enough to prevent chatting but close enough to stay in touch so she stood up from her chair the moment she noticed Julie reaching for her purse. They both blocked their laptops and quietly went out.

When the girls came back to the fifth floor, there was a significant change in the open space. Mr Covington was still in the office and Willie must have been with him so couldn’t be questioned on it. Free spot at the twin desk that Julie had to herself for the last few months was storing someone’s laptop and jacket. She exchanged looks with Flynn but since they couldn’t discuss, they opted for getting back to their chairs. Flynn put Willie’s cup on his desk, hoping it won’t get cold before he’s free to take a sip.

Everyone on the fifth floor except them and Willie was a senior management person – an experienced professional on at least a director level and with a pay check that would probably cover year’s worth of Julie’s rent. Granted, in their particular branch of the company there weren’t many juniors, but the fifth was strictly for very important people and their aids. Perhaps they were getting a fellow support?

Julie heard the kitchen door opening behind her and she noticed across the room Flynn’s eyes getting wider for a second. She didn’t want to be obvious and break her neck, turning around too quickly so she waited. The stranger approached the desk, detouring a bit to deliberately put himself in her view. He was tall enough to tower over her (which was not an achievement really), his smile honest and warm. Julie immediately understood the look Flynn got when she saw him – he was young enough to be a support.

“Hello there, I’m Luke,” he said, balancing his mug on a stack of papers. Julie noticed that the top one was a print out of a presentation she prepared for Mr Covington a few days ago. “You’re Julie, right? Willie said I can take the free spot over there.”

Instead of answering like a normal person, Julie followed his line of sight. His seat was in the corner, next to the window. The space between the back of her chair and the wall wasn’t narrow for her and Flynn when they were sharing but Mr I-definitely-work-out wasn’t exactly small. She needed to compress herself a bit to let him pass behind her. She immediately thought of him squeezing over each time she is too deep in thoughts and all the awkwardness that will occur. _Oh no._

Julie heard Flynn putting down a stapler with a force needed to kill a cockroach and she snapped out of her thoughts.

“H-Hi, yes, apologies, I’m Julie. Nice to meet you.”

He smiled at her and added while passing behind her. “You’re into Queen?”

She sent him a confused look. Yes, of course she was into Queen, but how could he know? It’s not like she had _I would sell my soul for having Freddie Mercury back_ tattooed on her forehead. He just nodded at her laptop screen, now unblocked, which had the Live Aid video paused. She forgot she was listening to it before going to the coffee shop.

“Oh. Aren’t we all, though?” She felt herself blush when he nodded in approval. Since when was she blushing at people who appreciated her music taste, she didn’t know but this was definitely not the time nor the place.

“Are you working for Mr Covington?” she deflected before it got too awkward again. She was into music enough to know each conversation had a rhythm and losing it would only make things worse.

He shook his head and Julie decided even his hair screamed he wasn’t a serious person. Longish and shaggy, no trace of any product or care. “I’m with Ms Harrison.”

“Welcome to slaving your life away here, then.”

He just grinned and Julie felt herself melting under his gaze. She was almost grateful when Covington’s door opened and Willie nodded her over.

When she was finally allowed to leave Mr Covington office, it was already getting dark outside. Most of the people were gone, including Flynn. Luke’s laptop and jacket also disappeared so she figured he went home for the evening as well.

Willie approached her with his now cold cup of tea.

“Sorry for putting him there. I know it’s quite a narrow squeeze but Covington insisted he wants him on this floor and it was the only spot.”

Julie smiled at him softly. Of course Will thought it through.

“No worries, we will manage. I prefer him passing me from time to time then me doing that every five minutes. You know how I run around here like a headless chicken.”

Willie grinned at her. “Hey, thanks for the tea.”

“Sorry it got cold.”

“Mighty power of our microwave will bring it back, no problem.”

When Willie went to the kitchen, Julie started collecting her things for the night. She noticed Luke left a notebook on his desk and she sighted. It was a big clear-desk-policy violation, even if the notebook was completely empty. After a second of thinking, she decided to lock it in her drawer and return it in the morning.

She didn’t expect it to almost disintegrate when she picked it up – the cover was hanging by a threat and several folded pages fell out. She picked up everything loose from the floor and put it on her part of the desk. She didn’t want him to think she went through it, whatever it was, but now it was already too late – she wasn’t able to put the folded pages exactly where they were even if she tried. Her curiosity got the best of her and she took a sneak peak at one of the sheets. It looked like… a poem? She quickly put it away and locked the drawer. It seemed personal and she knew a thing or two about boundaries.

***

Julie walked into the building a bit earlier than usual, greeting Alex and Reggie at the reception before putting her badge on the reader and crossing the gates. There wasn’t even a queue at the elevators yet. She intended to grab their reusable mugs and do a coffee run before Willie and Flynn got in.

Fifth floor should have been empty, because Mr Covington and his directs had their weekly breakfast meeting in around ten minutes at the restaurant across the street – but it wasn’t. Luke was there, all suited up, looking around frantically.

“Hey, have you seen a black notebook? I think I’ve left it here.”

She immediately remembered the disaster hanging by one staple that she locked in her drawer the day before.

“I have it.”

He gave her a look that she couldn’t interpret.

“Clear desk policy, I needed to lock it before leaving,” she added quickly. “It fell apart on me when I picked it up but it’s safe and sound.”

She unlocked the drawer and handed it to him. He took it, relieved.

“Thank you, and sorry, I didn’t intend to leave it and get us in trouble.” He shoot her a smile as if making her a partner in crime was very amusing and he put the notebook in his laptop bag. “I have to go. Thanks again”.

Julie barely managed to respond because he was already out of the door.

When lunch time came, Julie was glad that Flynn focused on nagging Willie instead of trying to have a conversation with her. She was still hung up on Luke who came back after an hour but then run off again with Ms Harrison and they haven’t seen him since. He was on her mind because at some point he pinged her a link via the corporate instant messaging system. When she opened it, it was a video of “White Queen” Queen performance from 1975. No commentary. No “Hi”. Just a link out of nowhere.

“William, you need to talk to him. Ask him out!” said Flynn, once again.

“I talk to him every day.”

“You talk to the receptionist-him, not the Alex-him.”

Flynn kicked her under the table so Julie started absent-mindedly nodding. Willie didn’t look convinced.

“Listen, Flynn. He is the sun on the cloudy sky of my days, yes, but it’s just a work crush,” he insisted. “I have never seen him outside of our building, I’ve never talked to him about anything that was not work-related and to avoid disappointment, I probably shouldn’t. Let me just have the one moment of happiness in the morning when I get to chat to him before I need to be on my way to the fifth floor of hell.”

Julie nodded again. She knew exactly what Willie was trying to say – It was the same with her and Nick from the second floor. He was there, being kind to her, sometimes making her a cup of tea when she came down all stressed. But that was it, she preferred to have this assumption of Nick than get to know him for real and regret he is not the prince she imagined.

Flynn kicked her again, harder this time. Julie was not surprised but also not amused.

“Sweetie, leave Willie alone,” she said. “Work crushes are the worst when they get ruined. Let him have this.”

“You say that just because you are afraid to ask Nick out.”

“I’m not afraid, I just don’t want to ruin my vision of Nick with real Nick cause real Nick might be a fuckboy.”

Flynn rolled her eyes. She was a firm believer that all relationships, even the work-ones, should be followed through so she always tried to get to know people. Julie felt that was nice in theory but also drained a lot of energy that she would rather keep for something else. Like hobbies.

“Nick plays guitar, he is sweet, caring and good with kids. I know cause he teaches guitar in the evenings. And I know that one cause I spoke to him. Take notes.”

Julie and Willie exchanged looks but before either of them answered, Julie noticed that kitchen door opened and Luke came in, closely followed by Reggie and Alex.

 _This is an unexpected development_ , she thought. _He’s been here one day and instead of befriending fellow supports, he goes for the reception guys._

She wanted to say something in that manner to her friends but Luke looked around the kitchen and instead of picking one of many free tables, he approached them.

“Hi guys, can we sit with you?”

They were all quite surprised but Willie was quick enough to react before the silence unnaturally stretched. “Sure, grab a chair.”

When the six of them were finally sitting, Julie’s phone pinged.

“Shit, I need to go. Covington.”

All her friends nodded, observing how she picked up her half eaten lunch and carried it to the fridge. Reception guys and Luke seemed rather disappointed she was leaving. Or perhaps she just imagined it, she did not have time to make sure.

When she saw Flynn again a few hours later, she got dragged to the bathroom almost instantly.

“What’s the emergency? Did I leak or something?”

“No, no, but we need to leave at some decent hour,” she said. “We are going out with the guys and we need to change clothes!”

Julie sighted. It was not like she did not want to go out with Flynn but she had plans. One plan, actually. To stay in, have hushed karaoke on her couch by herself and perhaps write some lyrics. She called herself a singer and songwriter despite being a good corporate rat and not singing or writing anything in months – and it was starting to make her feel terrible about herself.

“Jules, no, you are going. I promised Willie. Alex will be there, it is their first hang out outside of work and he needs us for moral support. Otherwise, he will be third-wheeling a clique.”

Flynn was such a great friend. Julie decided she needed to appreciate her more. Even if she was pushy sometimes.

“A clique? But Luke just joined,” she murmured faintly.

“He was around much longer, just in the HQ. Supposedly, he recommended both Alex and Reggie for the jobs.”

It made sense. That’s why nobody really introduced him or fussed about a new-joiner. He just got relocated, not hired.

“Okay, okay. I will try to leave at a reasonable hour. If the corpo gods are in our favour today, we may even have time to get changed,” she responded with a smile.

Flynn rewarded her with a hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Video/Audio mentioned:  
> *Queen performance at Live Aid 1985  
> *"White Queen" by Queen live (A Night At The Odeon - Hammersmith 1975)


	2. Wake up

Julie just entered the bar where she was supposed to meet Flynn and the boys when the call came. Mr Covington asked her to send over some files and it wouldn’t be a big problem if the files actually existed in the form he wanted them. Unfortunately, what he had in mind was a merge of a few presentations that he could vaguely describe. She was working for him long enough to actually figure out which ones he meant but it didn’t change the fact that if he wanted them first thing in the morning, she needed to get back to the office and start digging out the pieces.

She approached the group, trying to be cheerful but it seemed that no one fell for it.

“Oh no, you have the face,” was all that Flynn said.

Julie nodded with a sad smile. “Covington just called. I need to make a detour to the office. If I finish at some reasonable hour, I will call to see where you guys are at.”

She was trying not to look at the guys. Julie subscribed to the theory that men who wore jeans and t-shirts on daily basis, looked the hottest in suits but those who wore suits, reached the peak attractiveness while wearing casual clothing. She had seen Willie out of the suit multiple times so his impact wasn’t as big as the rest’s – and she was quite grateful, cause she wasn’t sure if her heart would take it. Reggie was all grunge flannel and leather and somehow it explained everything, even his love for country music. Alex wore pastels – Julie always thought he looked pale in black and white but now she knew it was just an impression, soft colours were not only matching his skin tone but also somehow his personality. And Luke… She glanced at him just once and she was sure she went beetroot red. His jacket was already hanging on the back of the chair and the sleeveless cut-out top he had on exposed exactly how much he worked out.

“I was just saying that we should go for karaoke,” said Alex.

Suddenly, having work to do did not seem that bad.

Julie did not sing, not in public. Not anymore. She knew it was a result of trauma and it probably qualified her for countless hours of therapy sessions but she couldn’t be bothered. Besides, her insurer covered just twenty of those (yes, she checked!) and she decided to leave them for something more important than public singing.

“You guys have fun,” she replied faintly. “Make Willie sing before he is too drunk, he will show you some great moves while at it.”

Julie said her goodbyes and left. She breathed out with relief as soon as she was outside and it made her feel guilty, but just a bit.

A few hours later she was still in the office. The night cleaning lady came by to chat for a bit but now Julie was completely alone at the fifth floor. Just after she joined the team, being in the office so late made her feel uneasy but at this point she was so used to it that she even named the little mouse that lived in the wall.

The presentation was almost done in a sense that it had all the required content but it still looked like shit and formatting was giving Julie a headache. She opted for a short break and left her desk to make herself a cup of tea. While waiting for the water to boil, she checked her phone.

Flynn sent her a couple of texts, mostly asking if she was coming back to them but her last message was a video. It was all the boys drunkenly performing Bohemian Rhapsody – which they of course butchered. But looking closely, she noticed that Reggie and Luke’s air guitars were a bit too accurate for a coincidence so they both must have known a chord or two in real life. She made a mental note to ask Reg about it the next time she passes through the reception. Willie, despite only singing terrible backing vocals, was strutting though the make shift stage, trying to pull Freddie Mercury poses. And it may have not worked for sober Julie but Alex seemed to be completely mesmerised. He followed him closely so they could occasionally share the mic for harmonies. Luke was doing the main vocals and even though he was too drunk to sound good, Julie could tell he had a nice voice.

The caption for the video simply said: “Luke insisted you cannot miss this.”

Julie smiled at the screen.

When she got back to her desk, editing seemed a bit easier – even though she was terribly annoyed that she left her headphones at home. Working in silence was not something she enjoyed even when there were people around – and lack of regular office sounds just made it worse. On the other hand, she couldn’t really blame herself too much – taking headphones while going out to socialise would be far too excessive, even for her.

Hours later her phone buzzed, and she was annoyed that it interrupted her humming rendition of _That Terrible Song_. From all the songs that were permanently stuck in her head, of course she must have picked that one. What a joke.

Her phone buzzed again so she checked it quickly. Willie sent her the group’s selfie and followed it up with quick text: “I told them we need a selfie for you so I could have a pic with Alex. Love you!”

Of course he thought that sending party selfies to people who slave away in the office was cruel and felt the need to add an explanation. He was just too adorable for his own sake.

Flynn and Willie were the ones who made sure she did not totally spiral into sadness and depression after the incident. Before Julie started working for Mr Covington, her life never included PowerPoints or standing desks. She was actually on her way to be a professional singer – drafted contract with a label still waiting for review somewhere in her inbox. Everything changed with one performance.

Julie lived and breathed music from a very young age – something she picked up from her mother who once upon a time was a part of a band. Rose Molina was an incredible singer and very entertaining frontwoman but even when her five minutes of fame passed, she was still able to make a living from music by writing songs for other artists. Julie wholeheartedly wanted to follow similar path. But then the incident happened.

During her biggest performance till date, her mum just… passed away. It was an aneurism, they said, and there was no real pain but Julie wasn’t sure she believed in the concept of painless death. Perhaps Rose didn’t feel it for too long but her family certainly did. And they all coped in the worst ways possible. Julie rejected music, overwhelmed with grief and guilt. Her younger brother, Carlos, decided to move across the country for a baseball scholarship that he initially rejected. And their dad, Rey, got so depressed that he almost quit his job.

Flynn was the one who got Julie involved with the corporation, “just for some time”. But the time stretched and it’s been almost two years now. At the beginning, Julie avoided any music, no matter if it was singing or listening. But after months have passed, she slowly accepted it back, piece by piece. Now not only she could listen to music but she actually enjoyed it. She even composed a few songs (although it was with intention of keeping them locked in a box forever). That’s why she was quite shocked when at a quarter to 1 a.m. she realised she was fully signing and it was _That Song_. Song her mother wrote for her. “Wake up”.

She wasn’t willing to admit it aloud but it did feel nice. She was too tired to overthink it so instead of immediately stopping, like she initially wanted to, she decided to just… let it go. After all, nobody was around to suddenly drop dead. And the work was going at least twenty percent faster.

A few finishing touches later she clicked send button on the email with the attached presentation. She did not proofread either the message or the presentation content – but at this point she had bigger faith in her typing skills than attention to details.

Without remorse, she ubered home using her corporate card.

***

Julie did not know what really changed but something definitely did. A switch in her head flipped and since she sung in the empty office, she just couldn’t stop. She hummed every melody she heard, she belted a terrible reedition of _All by myself_ during the morning shower and even her “Hello” at the conference calls was more sing-song than usual. It was getting quite frustrating.

Since she worked so late the night before, she opted for working from home. It mostly meant that she could avoid commute and sleep longer but also allowed her to have proper meals – she could eat while Mr Covington was talking to her on the phone and he never knew.

Flynn called her around noon and after initial work-related info exchange she added in an excited tone: “I have news! I’m sending you a link. Ping me after you see it!”

Julie opened it as soon as they hung up. It brought her to a video of a live music performance recorded by someone in the audience. It looked like it was accidentally zoomed all the way in on a small stage, effectively showing absolutely nothing. The song started with a guitar riff and when the drum and bass joined in, the sound quality on the recording changed from bad to terrible. Julie tried to focus and find the thing Flynn wanted her to see.

She did when the camera finally zoomed out, the exact same moment the vocals came in. The band was really good, with classic rock sound and great harmonies. There were four members, and shocked Julie recognised a younger version of Luke in the frontman and lead guitarist, Alex on drums and Reggie on bass – rhythm guitarist was a stranger. Suddenly, bad recording did not matter cause she was captivated by the performance and the song.

Flynn always laughed that Julie had a soft spot for good musicians, regardless of gender. And Luke did not need that kind of boost, she would admit he was objectively attractive when he stood in front of her in a suit. But seeing him on stage with a guitar, shamelessly cocky and for a good reason too… _Fuck_.

The recording ended but the song continued on loop in her head when she went to the kitchen to grab a coffee. She called Flynn on her work phone.

“Why are you doing this to me?” she asked.

Flynn giggled. “Honey, all with love. He was asking about you a lot and I have a good heart, I figured I will help him out.”

Julie groaned. “You should be on my side. And I say this is a work crush, it cannot go anywhere,” she lamented. “But damn, they were good. Are they still playing?”

“No, no, no. I earned this knowledge cause I had spent four hours with four drunk boys. If you want to know, you need to talk to him yourself.”

Julie frowned. “You always told me everything about Nick.”

“I have a new OTP now,” she replied simply. “Besides, that approach wasn’t working. I told you everything and you still did nothing about it. Now I am making you work for it yourself. But I told him your work number is listed on the org chart – I bet he will text you over the weekend.”

“Flynn!”

“Jules, you need to appreciate my commitment here. I do pre-filtering before I even bring someone up. I only tried to set you up with people you found cute. This is a second guitarist in a row.”

“Nick plays a classic.”

“He still has THE HANDS, and we both know that’s what you’re about.” Flynn’s skype pinged in the background. “Listen, I got to go. But I had his hands on me when we danced – and you would die, girl! Okay, bye!”

Julie decided that she would not be thinking about it unless something happened. It was a blessing in disguise that Mr Covington kept her busy all day – otherwise she would have time to overthink way too much when the text came.

“Hey, it’s Luke Patterson. Covington said I need to work with you on the report they are submitting with Ms Harrison next Wed. Do you have time on Mon to go through my draft?”

It was strictly work-related so she replied with: “Let me block 8-12 in our diaries. We can grab lunch afterwards.”

She had two days to get over rocker-guitarist-Luke and get back to suit-wearing-support-Luke who was an irrelevant work-crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music mentioned:  
> * Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen  
> * Wake up by Julie and the Phantoms Cast  
> * All by myself by Celine Dion  
> * Now or Never by Sunset Curve (mentioned without the title)
> 
> My Tumblr: asdfghjkl-fanfics.tumblr.com


	3. Fight through the dark

Julie hated the fact that she had put much more effort in her look on Monday then she usually did. Leaving her flat, she was feeling confident but the closer she got to the office, the more she thought her dress was too much. It really wasn’t.

When she walked in, Reggie waved her over enthusiastically. At the other end of the reception desk Alex smiled at her without stopping his conversation with Carrie from the second floor.

“You’re early today!”

Seeing Reggie back in a suit was a bit surreal.

“I need to do a coffee run before I start,” she answered. “It’s going to be a long day.”

“Even if it is going to be long, at least you have a coffee slave now, look.” He nodded towards the door where Luke tried to push a pull door with one hand and balance coffee holder with four cups in the other.

Julie went to help him, accompanied by Reggie’s laugh.

“Are you okay?” she asked, opening the door.

“Now I am.” His smile really brightened up a room, didn’t it?

 _Fuck_.

“You can pay me back by giving me one of those,” she stated, eyeing the coffee. You could trust her caffeine addiction to be stronger than her shyness any day.

“One was for you anyway, Flynn told me your usual order.” He handed her a cup and then waved to the boys at the reception desk.

“Flynn’s already in?” asked Julie, genuinely surprised. If it was not requested from her in advance, Flynn never showed up in the office before 10, instead opting to start work at home and commute when the traffic died down.

“I don’t know, I texted her.” It was amazing how casually he said that. Like there were absolutely no implications of him being interested in her orders. Or in her. Idea of that kind of confidence was so alien to Julie, she didn't really know how to react.

They queued to the elevator.

“You could have asked me for my order,” she said at last. Teasing was the way, right?

Luke just grinned. “And ruin the surprise?”

He was too sweet to be real. That shouldn’t be allowed. Her heart was melting.

“Fair enough.”

They found an empty meeting room to work in and he was the one to suggest they play some music. His playlist was on first and Julie found it surprising that none of the tracks were annoying or distracting.

Julie hoped that spending four hours with Luke will show her the real person behind her work-crush – and that person will have deal-breaking flaws – but to no avail. He was kind, patient, and willing to listen to her feedback. He also thoughtlessly hummed to some of the songs – which she found endlessly endearing. (She did not say anything though. Because she was a professional.)

During the lunch time, when they got to one of the restaurants nearby, he said:

“Has Flynn told you that she signed us all up for a charity on Wednesday?”

Doing charity on behalf of the company was usually much more fun than doing office work so Julie didn’t mind – especially since it was paid like a normal work day.

“She hasn’t. What are we doing?”

Unless Julie was imagining things, he hesitated.

“Seems like we’re moderating a talent show at a high school. I think some of the kids are special needs,” he answered slowly. “Flynn also suggested we perform, me and the guys, since she found out we had a band. We are considering it.”

Julie tilted her head and asked teasingly. “What’s there to consider?”

He didn’t even look at her while replying. “Our rhythm guitarist died, we never performed without him.”

Julie felt instantly stupid and tactless.

‘I’m so sorry, my condolences!”

Luke just shook his head. “Thanks. Don’t worry, it was years ago, it doesn’t hurt that much anymore.”

“You don’t need to perform,” she said immediately because she could imagine how he felt. She went through something similar, after all.

“I know but I think I want to.” Surprisingly, she could relate to that feeling as well. “It’s just... The sound won’t be right without the fourth instrument. We had a nice dynamic, it will be very basic without Bobby.”

Before Julie managed to think it through, she was already in the middle of the sentence.

“Perhaps I can join you? I play piano.”

That was the first time during this conversation when Luke sincerely grinned. She wanted to eat her words and say it was a mistake but she just couldn’t bear the thought she would put out that smile. She bit her lip and looked down.

He leaned across the table and took her hand.

“Hey, Flynn told me you are great and she seems to know her stuff. Let’s meet tomorrow after work for a jamming session. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t… well, we still need to moderate a kid talent show.”

“Sounds like a plan”, she replied faintly.

Shortly after lunch, Luke got pulled in a meeting with Ms Harrison and Julie haven't seen him since. It was a relief, really, because she was freaking out for better part of an hour and then she got scolded by one of Covington’s directs for being distracted at the meeting at which she was supposed write minutes. Around 2 PM Luke sent her a link to “Sombody to Love" live in Montreal 1981 and she really did try not to read too much into it. Objectively, it was one of the best recorded Queen performances and that was probably what he intended – guys do not pay much attention to the lyrics, right?

She decided to fully deny the existence of his poem notebook for now.

“Molina, you with me?” Nick’a voice brought her back to reality.

_Honestly, no._

She looked at the slides on his screen, asking herself internally why was she even at the second floor right now. The answer was: she was a decent person who got asked to help. She really should stop assisting people who were not in her direct reporting line – otherwise they will anticipate her in their corner every time. Better to manage expectations.

“Yeah. Can you repeat that last part?”

“I was saying that Kayla got me this content but I am not sure if it is Covington level of details.”

“It’s fine, Luke."

“Name’s Nick, actually.”

_Damn it._

“Sorry, my mind wondered for a bit. But I’m back. The content is good, we just need to revamp the format. Mr Covington does not like generic corporate blue. He will take in all of this info much better if you switch colours to purple-ish.”

After months of having a work-crush on Nick, ruining it with one sentence was not really that dramatic or painful as expected. Another sign it was never going anywhere. (None of the work-crushes should!) If all of this happened a few weeks back, Flynn would be furious. But considering the recent changes, Julie was curious about her reaction.

“Purple?” asked Nick with hesitation. She was the go-to person when it came to slides for Covington. She knew his style, his aesthetic, his way of thinking and visualizing. Ninety percent of the time, what she produced for him, was unchanged on the screen during his presentations and meetings. And Nick sat there and dared to doubt her judgement. Normally, she would be offended but at this point she was so over him, she almost laughed.

“Purple. I will leave you to it, please send it over in the next hour.”

When she got back to the fifth floor, Willie nodded her over. He was pale, his long hair – usually in a slick bun – now looked like a mess. She went towards him and tucked on his hairband, taking it off. He thanked her with a soft smile.

Above his shoulder Julie noticed Luke was sitting at their desk – he looked up from his screen when she walked in and grinned at her. She returned an apologetic smile and focused on Will.

“What’s up?”

“We forgot about the SC. It’s this evening.” Julie instantly paled. Steerening Committee was supposed to be a monthly meeting but it was constantly being rescheduled – its regularity completely escaping everyone.

“Shit, what do we do?”

Because she had that four hours with Luke in the morning and they were working on his laptop, she never checked her calendar. It was such a rookie mistake, she was genually mad at herself.

“We wing it, I already have a template.”

Willie was a gift from gods.

Flynn sensed trouble and approached them quickly. “What’s the drama?”

Before Willie managed to answer, the door to Mr Covington’s office opened. Nobody would ever say their boss was a nice man but he was usually quite easy-going – at least when everything was moving according to plan. But now Covington was definitely angry and looked as intimidating as ever.

“Molina!” It was bad, he never called her by the last name.

Julie breathed in and took a few steps towards him. But before she could reach him, Luke was suddenly by her side.

“Caleb, I have a few questions about the presentation for the SC," he said.

 _Caleb?!_ What was he thinking? What was he doing?!

“I dont think you can have questions about a presentation that is non-existent.”

Luke did not even flinch at his harsh tone. He actually straightened his back to show he was unfazed.

“Non-existant? I specifically booked Julie this morning to work on the draft report for Wednesday because I assumed you will be reusing the same slides for SC. Isn't that right?”

He was too bold for his own sake. Covington would never allow this, right? Right?!

“You're telling me, Patterson, that you engaged my support with your shit when she was supposed to be doing something else because you took an executive decision about my presentation?”

Once again, Luke took it all in, completely stoic. Was he... smirking?

“You always say we need to work smarter, not harder. Everything is ready for SC, I believe Will even has the cover slide.”

Apparently, Luke Patterson was allowed much more than normal supports.

“Fine, show me.” Covington made a gesture, inviting Luke to his office.

Luke held the door and nodded for her to join so Julie followed.

Steering Committee meeting ended at 6 PM and Julie was thankful that it was the last engagement for the day. But before she could go home, she needed to do one more thing. She discreetly dragged Luke to one of the empty rooms.

“What was that, Patterson?!”

The anger and disbelief that she bottled for the last few hours finally burst out of her. She knew, she knew something would come up and ruin her work-crush on Luke. What she did not expect was that he will prove to be a chauvinistic corporate rat jeopardising her in front of her boss. He really said he booked her to do things!

“What?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Do I look like a damsel in distress to you? Or do I look naive?”

“No?” He sounded honestly confused.

“Then why did you step in about the SC?”

Julie was not a very confrontational person but she knew that if someone started doing her job better than she did, she would get sent to the second floor in no time. And since she already burnt the bridge to Nick, she really did not want to end up there.

“He was pissed and ready to take it out on you," he answered simply.

“And I should have taken it. I could have. It’s my job.”

“Listen, Jules, I’ve worked in this company long enough to know he would make your day, if not week, miserable.” His voice was hushed but tone sounded quite self-assured. “So I used my white guy privilege to make us both look decent. Is that so bad?”

“No, it was not about making us look decent. You've made yourself look good.”

“Julie, I don’t work for him, he cannot really help me climb the ladder. But he also cannot touch me, at least not for being mildly insolent. If you made any of those suggestions I’ve made, you would get nowhere cause he already decided you screwed up and did not prepare anything. He would make you redo the whole presentation in an hour, just out of spite. You know it.”

She really did know. She was a Latina woman in a supporting role. Corporate diversity, inclusion programmes and policies be damned, managing directors always treated her like a brainless secretary – and Caleb Covington, despite all the work she did for him on daily, wasn’t much different. If she stood up to him, she would regret it in the long run.

“White guy privilege, huh?”

“Like I said, I’ve been here long enough to use every leverage I have. I’m sorry if I offended you in any way," he added. “Are we still good for jamming tomorrow?”

Work-crush Luke was nice, innocently sweet, listened to every word she said, and liked Queen. But real Luke Patterson was all that and more. He was nice and he manipulated other people into being nice as well. He was sweet but there was nothing innocent about it, it was a conscious choice. He not only listened to her but also made sure other people did too. (And he liked Queen, probably.)

Both versions of Luke were still devilishly handsome.

Looking into his green eyes, Julie decided to be honest with herself. He was not just a work-crush anymore. _Fuck._

“Sure, cannot wait to jam with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Video/audio mentioned:  
> * "Somebody to Love" by Queen live in Montreal 1981


	4. Relight that spark

On Tuesday morning Julie’s diary was packed with things she needed to do before disappearing for charity day on Wednesday. Around ten, she gathered her necessities and took her laptop out of the docking station, intending to work from any other place but her own desk. She decided to head down to the second floor.

When she was waiting for the elevator, Flynn walked out of it, finally arriving in the office. Julie was quite glad that her friend had no idea what’s been happening and couldn’t tease her about it. Without any guilt Julie told Flynn she was going downstairs to see if her work-crush on Nick was completely gone (or if Monday just wasn’t her day and everything went back to normal). Admitting that she just couldn’t focus at her desk because of Luke was definitely not an option. And concentration on work was crucial – there was really no time to waste if she wanted to make that jamming session at 7 PM.

It seemed like Luke had similar agenda and was in rush to finalize things as well, concentrated on his screen or his papers. He walked to the printer and then to Ms Harrison’s office a lot which meant he passed between the wall and Julie’s back several times in just twenty minutes. And wearing her headset, she noticed his intention to move only half the time, effectively making him squeeze behind her with laughter.

The last time he needed to go away from the desk, he put his hands on the back of her chair, leaned to her ear and said softly:

“I need another inch.”

Julie wasn’t going to admit how high she jumped or how red she went. _The audacity of this man!_ And the fact that he was walking around without a tie and in a button-up shirt with rolled sleeves really did not help.

Therefore, the second floor.

She found a free desk near Nick and put down all her things. Among them, there was a half-empty coffee cup – not her reusable one but a paper one with her name on it. Luke brought her coffee in the morning, second time in a row, and she still wasn’t quite over it.

But she could daydream about it later. Now work was calling.

Flynn dragged her out for lunch around 1 PM with a sole purpose of doing an interrogation. Luckily, she also opted for bribery and who was Julie to refuse free meal.

“Okay, you have food,” Flynn started. “Like I promised. Now spill.”

“What are you talking about?”

To be quite fair, Julie could list at least three things that happened in the last twenty four hours which would interest Flynn this much. That girl was always up to knowing things.

“Luke!”

“What about him?” The three-point list Julie had prepared before was all about Luke so it wasn’t exactly helpful.

“First of all, have you seen him today? Whole snack!” There went point one from the list. “But SC yesterday?!”

Steering Committee. Julie almost forgot it was just the day before. This week was really going unbelievably slow, it felt like it lasted years already.

“Well, we took the cover from Willie and the rest from the Harrison report.”

Flynn rolled her eyes. “Girl, do you really think I care about those PowerPoints? Tell me what happened with Patterson? Did Covington eat him for dinner in that office? You three were there till after SC and both Willie and I decided new tea is not worth the risk. If we stayed, someone would come along and enlist us to do work – and I refuse to start things after 4 PM.”

“Nothing happened,” said Julie, taking a bite of her salad. “Luke showed him the slides we did and Covington agreed they were good enough for SC. You know that Luke works for Harrison, it’s not like Covington being annoyed with him can do much damage.”

Flynn raised her eyebrows.

“Jules, that’s bullshit.” She looked around, checking if anyone from the company was in the hearing range. This café was close enough to the office to be constantly frequented by the employees. “I spoke to Carrie yesterday, you know her? The one from headcount management. She said he is up for promotion in this cycle. They are doing 360 interviews on him as we speak and Covington can definitely fuck it up for him.”

Julie stared at her in shock. If all of that was true, Luke risked a lot by standing up for her.

“Does he even know he got nominated?”

Flynn shrugged. “He either already knows or will be told very soon. But regardless of that, he was really walking the line when he called Covington _Caleb_. Caleb!”

“He’s a white guy in a corporation. He will be fine.”

None of them was convinced.

“So… Nick?”

Julie just shook her head. “That crush is definitely gone. I mean, he is a nice guy, handsome. But… He doubted me when I gave him Covington-slide advice.” Flynn looked at her with suspicion and gestured to continue. “Okay, to be fair it was right after I’ve hurt his ego so perhaps it was just a payback.”

“Hurt his ego? How?”

“I-might-have-called-him-Luke!” she said much faster then she intended.

“Girl, you’ve known him for two years,” Flynn replied with a smirk. “And you know Luke for what, a couple of days?”

“Shut up!”

***

Julie was not a fan of current rock. All those guys in black tees who half screamed into the microphone to convey emotions were _fine_ but that was the best she could say about them – they never made her feel anything. She would get much more excited watching a grainy recording of Freddie Mercury than a new punk rock band live. Especially since vocals usually left her deeply unsatisfied.

When she walked into the garage, they must have been at it for a while because they were already covered in a sheen of sweat. It was not a surprise they have started without her, Julie got pulled in an hour meeting at the very last minute before leaving the office.

Alex was behind the drums, completely in his element, playing and singing backing vocals. Aware of the difficulty level, Julie couldn’t help but be impressed. Her mind immediately went to Roger Taylor and she reluctantly admitted that Alex was equally good. Reggie was playing bass and taking one look at him, when he run his right hand through his hair while leaning into the mic, she was never more attracted to him then in that moment. His talent was undeniable, voice worth being the lead. He was relaxed, tightly in sync with Alex and so confident in his actions, it was ridiculous.

And then there was Luke.

Julie wished he had that new rock quality about him where he needed to compensate his mediocre musicianship with his looks (which would fly either way, let’s be real) but it was definitely not the case. His vocal was powerful, controlled and had that raspy edge to it. At the same time, he seemed so technically proficient, so comfortable in his range, approaching higher notes with ease and amazing breath support that Julie herself forgot how to breathe. Adding the guitar to it was like throwing in a headshot to already successful murder. She was dead and gone. Definitely gone.

At first she wasn’t even sure they noticed her come in but then Luke grinned at her, finishing the song with a nice guitar riff. _That man needed to stop._

“Julie, you made it!” Reggie put his bass down and came up to give her a hug. Alex smiled and waved from behind the drum kit.

“Glad you came,” said Luke, still smiling at her, with guitar hanging off his shoulder on a strap. “Keyboard is ready for you, as promised.”

Julie approached the keys, running her fingers through to check the sound. It wasn’t the best instrument she had ever played but it wasn’t the worst either.

“Do you want to play something for us first?” asked Alex, shooting her an reassuring smile. He had such a warm and calming presence that she couldn’t help but think how amazing it would be if him and Willie got together.

Julie nodded but then stretched her fingers to stall. What was she thinking when she offered to join their performance? She hasn’t played for public in years. And now she had three guys staring at her expectantly, and just from the snipped she got, she knew they were great musicians who could recognize if she was good or not with ease. She was, she believed it, but with Luke’s eyes on her she could barely take a deeper breath.

But then he raised his eyebrows at her, giving an encouraging nod and she started playing.

She couldn’t recall the moment she made the decision to play that particular song but it became easier with every note. For years, she dreaded this song, fully blaming it for the loss of her mum which was not really fair as her mother wrote those notes herself. Julie swore she will never perform it again. But once she approached the moment when she was supposed to start singing, she just… did, without overthinking.

As soon as she finished the song with the final _Wake up_ and the last note rung, she realized she closed her eyes because enthusiastic applause dragged her back to the reality.

“Julie, you are absolutely fantastic!” Alex jumped up from his stool and pulled her in a hug. He was kind enough to pretend not to notice she used that moment to wipe tears from her cheeks.

“Jules, if I knew you were so good, I would ditch those guys and beg you to be in a band with me!” Reggie grabbed her next and she was grateful to have his arms around her – she almost stopped shaking.

When Reg let her go, Julie noticed that Luke still stood at the same spot, wordlessly staring at her. She wasn’t sure if it was a good thing, she even started getting worried. Alex must have read it from her face cause he crossed the room in two strides and unceremoniously poked Luke in the arm.

“Say something, mate.”

Luke pushed him away in a gesture which looked so practiced, Julie was sure this must have happened a lot between them and he – finally – smiled at her.

“You have a voice of an angel.”

Reggie chuckled. “Original, Luke.”

“I wasn’t trying to be original, I was just sharing a fact.”

Reg looked like he was ready to bicker more so Julie interjected quickly:

“Thank you, guys. It really means a lot.”

When she was sitting in Alex’s car on her way back home (it was so late, the guys insisted she cannot take the tube) she knew it was the first time in years she was happy to just enjoy the music instead of obsessing over quality or perfection.

It was surprising how welcoming the guys were and how easily they made space for her – both on the make-shift stage and in their song. The biggest surprise was Luke who not only toned down the rock quality in the music in order to “let her vocal shine” but also without a complaint or even a frown gave up lead vocal because “hers was like a wrecking ball”.

Julie knew he was just being kind for the sake of decently performing one song. They were playing for the first time together only a day after so it wasn’t really a good moment or place to make any revolutionary changes. They needed to work with what they already had, instead of trying to learn new things. She did not mind – what they had from the get go was magical anyway. If they had more time, it would be truly magnificent.

She was almost sad at the thought that it was probably a one-off thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs mentioned:  
> * "Wake up" by Julie and The Phantoms Cast (yes, again)  
> * Also "Now or Never" by Julie and The Phantoms Cast (if you squint)


	5. Edge of Great

Of course the morning started with an apocalypse. Julie got woken up by the stubborn ring of her work phone around 5.30 AM and she groaned looking at the screen.

“Willie, honey, why do you hate me?”

“I’m sorry, Jules. I have Covington emailing me since 5 and I need you to tell me where the Harrison status report is.” His voice was a bit frantic and she could sense he downed more than one coffee in order to make his brain work. In result he just got unreasonably stressed.

“The what?” She was still too sleepy to make the dots connect.

“The slides Luke produced when you were staring at him for four hours!” he snapped.

“Will, don’t be a dick. I have an early draft but I saw him working on it yesterday. You need to ask him for the latest version,” she replied slowly. “I assume you will miss the charity day?”

“Yeah, probably… wait. I’m adding Patterson to the call.”

_What?!_

Luke picked up after three rings.

“Hello?”

Hearing his morning voice was not something Julie felt prepared for. She would never admit out loud what that deeper, harsher sound did to her. But it definitely did not do anything to Will or at least he wasn’t in the right state of mind to really appreciate it because he went straight to the point without even a greeting.

“Luke, where did you save the status report?”

“Good morning, Willie,” he replied politely, without any apparent sarcasm despite the early hour – perhaps he was again trying that thing when he conditioned people around him to be a bit nicer? “Give me a sec, the latest version is not in the shared space, I need to log in. I will shoot it your way in a minute.” They could hear the ruffling of him getting out of the bed and unzipping his laptop bag.

“Everything should be saved in the shared space, mate.” Will’s tone was a bit softer now that the stress got lighter.

“I know, apologies. I’ll do better next time,“ replied Luke automatically. They could hear him typing his credentials. “Who’s there on the line with you?”

Julie was so content with just listening to his voice that she forgot she was being a silent creep on a conference call. She cleared her throat before speaking.

“It’s Julie.”

The line on his side went quiet for whole three seconds before the typing and clicking started again.

“Hi, Julie,” he finally said. His tone was completely normal and casual so perhaps she just imagined the pause? “Okay, all done. The presentation should be with you now, Willie.”

“Thanks, mate!”

Will disconnected and Julie knew it was a cue for all of them to do it but she was a bit slow this early in the morning.

“Julie, you still there?” She could have sworn her name just sounded different when he said it.

“Yeah?”

“We’re still on for the charity day, right?”

“Right.”

“Good.” There was a small pause. “Enjoy your morning then, I’ll see you soon.”

Being back in a high school building was not something Julie enjoyed. Her high school life was full of performances, excitement, terror when she needed to make up absences… Back then she was so close to fulfilling her dreams that right now walking school corridors was just a sore reminder that she peaked early in life and all she currently had was an imposter syndrome.

It was still quite early, first classes weren’t supposed to start for at least an hour. The school’s lift had an “out of order” sign so Julie struggled with her keyboard for the first flight of stairs but when she saw five more, she gave up the pride and texted Reggie for help. (She picked Reggie cause Willie wasn’t there, Alex probably already dragged his whole drumkit up and did not deserve this, and Luke, well… She did not have his personal number.) She waited by the railing, scrolling through her inbox to see how much crap was waiting for her back in the office when she heard someone running down the stairs. She looked up with relief but it quickly changed to shock. Because it was not Reggie.

“Hey, I’ve heard you needed a helping hand?” Luke shot her a smile.

“Uhm… Yeah. Hi.”

He took the keyboard carrier from where she put it next to the railing and eyed the smaller bag she was still holding in her hand.

“No, no. It’s fine, I can take this one!” she said with slight panic. She really was able to carry things, she should have never asked for help!

“We are already done with the instrument soundcheck and the kids had their final performance rehearsals yesterday,” he said when they started the climb. “The only thing to do is for you to check the sound on this thing,” he bounced the keyboard on his arm, “ and for us to practice doing the introductions, to make sure we’re pronouncing the names right.”

“Wait, I thought Flynn is the moderator?”

It was the truth, they all agreed Flynn and Willie would be hosting the show whereas the rest would spread around, help the kids with entrance cues and of course perform during the break before jury announces the winners.

“Yeah, when Willie texted that he cannot make it, I volunteered to replace him,” he explained. “So Flynn decided it will be easier for us to perform later if we are both already near the stage.”

That explanation was a pile of crap in Julie’s opinion cause Alex and Reggie would still need to run from the backroom for the performance. But she suspected Flynn used the signature Flynn tone and guys had no choice but to agree with her.

“Sure, sounds reasonable.”

When they reached the top floor, Julie needed a few deeper breaths (and perhaps a regular work out in her future) but Luke was mostly unfazed.

_Ugh, fit people._

Flynn approached them with a folder in her hand.

“Luke, can you set it up, I need to run this one through Julie.”

Luke just nodded and walked away towards the stage area. Julie looked at Flynn questioningly.

“Those are the prompts for getting kids on stage,” she said, handing her the folder. “You don’t need to look at it right now. I just wanted to ask if you liked the surprise?” Her cheeky smile was unnerving.

“Surprise being you sending Luke down to strain his muscles in a white shirt in front of me?” asked Julie with a healthy amount of sarcasm.

“That’s all on Reggie. I just convinced him it was a much better solution,” Flynn replied with a grin. “Besides, what’s not to love, right?”

“Flynn, one of those times he will actually hear you!”

“So what? He’s not my crush, I don’t care what he thinks. And he wasn’t born yesterday, he knows he’s an eye candy.”

Julie looked towards the stage, seeing Luke and Reggie dealing with the keyboard. Luke seemed to be smirking but realistically there was a very slim chance he heard Flynn from that far and still maintained a conversation with Reg. She wasn’t too worried.

“Just… stop. Also, putting me up as a co-host was a bit too obvious. He’ll think I’m desperate.”

“Putting you as co-host?” Either Flynn suddenly got much better at acting or…

“Didn’t you say it will be better to have me close to the stage?”

Realization hit them both around the same time and while Julie was mostly shocked, Flynn’s smile got wider.

“I love everything about this,” she said, gesturing at Julie and vaguely at the stage behind her. “My ship is sailing, baby!”

Julie shortly found out that being on stage with Luke, regardless of circumstances, was a pleasant experience. He was naturally charming, had nice jokes and absolutely no shame so he rescued both her and a few kids from some unfortunate situations, ranging from stuttered pronunciation on her part to a few different cases of stage fright from the contestants.

He was good with kids and Julie hated that her brain noted that down _so fast_.

“Congratulations to everyone who performed.” His voice pierced through her thoughts. “Now jury will take a short break to discuss and in five minutes we will know who won.” There was a loud cheer from the crowd. “Give us a second and we will get back to entertain you with a song of our own!”

Right. They were supposed to perform.

Suddenly, Julie remembered how the day before they managed to run through the song without any mistakes just once. How she stumbled on the cables like a newbie. How she tried to take a few steps back from the centre of the stage and bumped into Luke because she did not notice he wandered into the spot directly behind her.

There were just so many elements that could go wrong.

Alex and Reggie managed to get on stage in very short time (again, proving Julie’s point that Flynn absolutely could have co-hosted with Luke) and she heard a quiet sound of drumsticks counting her in before she hit the first keys on her keyboard. She did not need that but Alex must have noticed she was too zoned out to start on her own. He really had a remarkable instinct.

The song they were playing was written by Luke and she could tell it came from that poem notebook she rescued from shredder not so long before. It was melodic, meaningful and absolutely brilliant. Lyrics seemed personal enough to have that captivating honesty about it but it was also relatable and Julie connected to it on so many levels. She still couldn’t believe Luke gave up the lead vocal on it to let her shine.

Julie was going through the first verse on her own, guys waiting for their cue to jump in in the chorus. She thought she was doing alright, after all she knew she was a good singer, but she still felt like she needed validation. She risked a quick glance at Luke on her left. He was standing there with his guitar hanging loosely on the strap, grinning like a fool. Taping his foot with the time and bopping his head to the rhythm, he had his eyes glued to her and he was mouthing the words. When he noticed her look, his smile got wider.

At least he didn’t think she was ruining his song.

Once she reached the chorus, world got simpler. Suddenly, she had Alex there, keeping perfect time. She had Reggie linking rhythmical and melodic elements with his bass guitar. And she had Luke switching from strumming the melody to riffs and back again. Uncertainty she felt just a moment ago vanished, replaced with pure joy.

They could do it. They were doing it! And it was working!

Luke’s solo verse, followed by a few lines harmonized with Reggie, went smoothly and Julie barely noticed when they passed the duet in chorus and it was time for the verse split between the both of them. Julie could not say she made a conscious choice but somehow she walked towards Luke with her mic extended.

In the practiced version of the performance she stayed in the middle of the stage, jamming with the crowd. She did not invite him to her microphone. She did not make him move with her to the centre bacause he needed to chase her mic with his mouth like he was on a leash. And she absolutely did not fondly smile at him the whole time before her line came.

But apparently she did all of that in the actual performance – and more!

Julie was pretty sure they sung the chorus and finished the song shortly after that, as planned, but she blacked out that part entirely. (Flynn recorded everything on her phone, though, and it was completely fine.) She vaguely remembered introducing the juries again so that they could announce the winner. She really did not recall who won.

“Jules, you good there?”

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked up from the keyboard. Majority of the kids and teachers were already gone, leaving a few to clean up the chairs and decorations. Julie just disconnected all the wires from her instrument and was prepared to pack it back in the carrier.

“I can manage, thanks, Alex.”

The drummer came closer anyway and grabbed the keyboard to help her put it in the bag.

“It was a nice performance,” he said softly.

“Yeah, I thought so too.”

Before any of them managed to say anything else, Luke shouted at Alex:

“Finish packing your drums, mister. I am not going up and down those stairs on empty!”

They both looked at the stage where Reggie and Flynn were packing the amps, statives and microphones, apparently done with his guitar. Luke was half through packing the drums himself but apparently he needed company.

Alex rolled his eyes at him. “It’s not like you can carry more than two at the time!”

Luke jumped off the stage and approached them.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t but I would rather die trying then make four trips,” he replied quickly.

The drummer shrugged and murmured something under his breath before walking away.

“Jules, let me grab that for you.”

She looked him up and down, probably not as discreetly as she planned. Just to torture her Luke took off his button-up after the performance, staying in a white undershirt. He was also still a bit flushed from the show, his hair wild, almost certainly from his attempts to make it look better.

“I’m fine, going downstairs is easier.”

“Let me take this and you can grab the mics and stands from Reg?” he offered quickly.

 _Fine, she could compromise._ At least she wouldn’t die from falling down the steep stairs because her balance got messed up by a huge keyboard. Luke was risking the same exact thing but for politeness sake and if he wanted die a gentleman, who was Julie to take that away.

“Okay, but if you fall, save the keyboard first,” was all she said.

“Sal-ty, Molina!” He grinned in response. “I will save your precious keyboard if you promise to visit me at the hospital to feed me yoghurt. Cause you know, my hands will be broken.”

Why he also needed to be funny? Life was so unfair.

“I will even smuggle yoghurt from outside so you have the good stuff.” She laughed at him.

With his help her bag was ready to go.

“Deal! Listen, Alex is taking the tube back to the office so I can drive you home.”

She shrugged. “Sure, thanks.”

“Okay, I will go put this in the car and I’ll be right back.” He winked at her and before she recovered, he was on his way.

Julie went back towards the stage.

“Done flirting?” asked Reggie, pushing a mic stand towards her.

“Reg!” Alex snapped at him.

“Hush, both of you,” interrupted Flynn. “We agreed we won’t tease you too much,” she added for Julie’s benefit. “But to be clear, I’ve made them into shippers so we are all supportive.”

That’s how leaving a best friend unsupervised ended. Julie hoped she wasn’t blushing too much. (She really was.)

“Now if you don’t need more of my help, I’m gonna run,” said Flynn. “Unlike you lots, I am not afraid of communicating and therefore I have a hot date tonight.”

Julie raised her eyebrows questioningly but Flynn just mouthed “I will text you later” and she was gone. Of course she wouldn’t spill details of her own love life in front of the guys. Classic Flynn.

Luke came back just in time to see everything packed and ready for a trip downstairs. Julie observed how he sighted and grabbed his water bottle before approaching the bags.

“You okay? Hands not broken?”

“Unfortunately, no. A shame, really. I was already fantasising about being fed that yoghurt,” he replied, jokingly.

She bit her lip to stop herself from bantering further. She knew she had Alex and Reggie behind her, listening to every word.

“Give me the keys, I will go with the stands.”

Luke handed her the car keys but before he said anything more, they both heard Alex gasp. When all of them glanced at him, he looked up from his phone and shook his head. “Just a… meme, “ he explained faintly.

No one believed him.

“Jules, you’re going down now?” he asked quickly. “I’ll walk with you, I really need to get back to the office now.” Julie nodded, watching him grab several bags at once. “You guys good with taking the rest?”

Luke and Reg exchanged looks but nodded.

“Great, I’ll see you tomorrow. Jules?”

Julie took two mic stands and put a bag with cables and mics on her arm. “Ready!”

“No need to climb back, we will handle this!” She heard Luke’s voice behind them.

“Okay!”

When they were one floor down and Alex hasn’t said a word, Julie decided she needed to ask. “So, what’s happening?”

At the same time the drummer started talking: “Julie, can I ask you something?”

They both chuckled.

“The text before, it was Willie,” he said finally. “Flynn must have sent him the performance video and he… gave his feedback.”

Julie tried to ignore the curiosity on how the performance turned out on camera and asked instead: “Feedback?”

“It was a really cringe drum related pick up line, I think,” he explained, carefully choosing his words. “Or just a joke.”

Was he… blushing?

Julie made herself stay calm and collected but she could barely contain her excitement. Now she fully understood what Flynn felt when she was _seeing her ship sail_.

“It wasn’t a joke,” she ensured quickly. “Alex, Willie fancies you, you know that, right?”

“He does?” He stopped abruptly and she prayed they don’t fall down the stairs because she was playing matchmaker too hard.

“You’re going to the office. Just ask him. None of us will be there to overhear so it’s a perfect opportunity to have some privacy, huh?”

He took a deep breath and started moving again.

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”

“Why?”

“Jules, I have anxiety and work in reception. All my strength to talk to people is reserved for the guests.”

Julie felt her heart sink. She decided to channel her inner Flynn and push a bit more.

“I get that, Alex, I really do. But I can kick his butt to come talk to you then? Would that be better?”

She stumbled a few steps and Alex grabbed her instinctively.

“Please don’t.”

When the drummer was gone and she was waiting for the guys leaning on Luke’s car, she couldn’t help herself but imagine how the rest of the day could go. Willie could speak to Alex, ask him out directly and they could be a thing by tomorrow. And when they drop off Reggie and get to her flat, she could offer Luke to come in and order take out with her. Maybe.

Her work ring tone interrupted before she could see where that scenario was going.

“Hey, Willie, what’s up?” she greeted him with a smile.

“I saw the performance video.” His tone was definitely too serious. Was this about Alex? Perhaps he was worried that the pick-up line he sent did not work?

“Yeah? It was fun, right?” She wanted to sound open and encouraging so he would spill whatever was troubling him.

“Julie, are you alone? Can you talk?” he asked instead of answering.

“Yeah, I’m waiting for the guys, I’m alone. Stop freaking me out.”

“Did anything happen between you and Patterson? Outside of that stage, I mean.”

“No? Why?”

“Jules, you need to cut him off right now. RMS Juke officially sunk. I already texted Flynn to stop meddling.”

Julie realized she was shaking her head at his words but wasn’t actually saying anything.

“Willie, what are you on about? You’re being weird.”

She heard faint dings and knew Will crossed a few doors inside the office, perhaps going to one of the meeting rooms to ensure he was alone as well.

“Jules, he will get promoted. Covington just told me.”

She thought about it for a second. If after promotion Luke was still under Harrison, there wasn’t really any rule preventing them from… whatever it was that they had. Or even from developing that further.

“So?”

“Next month he will be your new boss.”

There definitely were policies about that.

_Fuck._

“You’re being awfully silent, are you that tired?”

Julie was sitting in the passenger seat in Luke’s car, deep in her thoughts. They already dropped off Reggie and unpacked the instruments to their rightful place in bassist’s garage. Now they were a few minutes away from her flat.

“Aren’t you?”

“Well, I am but I think eating something would fix that right up. We could drop off the keyboard and go grab a bite?” It was an innocent question but somehow she knew it really wasn’t.

Of course the flirting and the banter was not all in her head. Of course he followed her imagined scenario. _Fuck._

Julie looked at him for the first time since they entered the car and she deeply regretted that. He had his puppy eyes turned up to eleven, biting his lip, nervously awaiting her answer. She needed to summon all the willpower to refuse.

“I can’t, I have plans.” He did not ask but she offered details to the lie anyway. “Dinner with my dad.”

“Oh. Sure. Rain check then?”

They finally stopped and she got out of that car so fast, she was almost ashamed.

Did he know? How could they not tell him? Perhaps he knew and all of this was just a platonic thing that her mind blew out of proportions after all? No. It had to be real. They guys saw it too. They would surely shut Flynn down if it wasn’t true.

Willie was right. She needed to stop everything and just let it go. Luke was unaware of any of it, he must have been, and if he made a move now, he would definitely regret it in a month. But she was the one who knew and it was her job to save them both from awkwardness in the future.

“Julie, are you ok?”

He already took the keyboard and her bag from the car. She came closer to grab them from him.

“I can take it inside for you.”

“No need, thanks. I will see you tomorrow, okay?”

She could read pure confusion from his face.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No! No. We’re fine, Luke.”

“Then perhaps we can grab dinner together tomorrow after work? I’m not sure if I’ll be in the office but…”

“Are you asking me out on a date?” she interrupted quickly. This conversation was painful enough, it needed to end.

“Yes, I’ve been trying. Thanks for noticing.”

She would have really appreciated that line in other circumstances.

“Luke, I’m sorry if I led you on but we won’t be more than friends.”

She could see how he clenched his jaw for a brief moment before he said:

“Okay, no worries. Desk-mates then?”

Somehow, the way he casually said that shattered her more than anything else.

“Of course.”

She should have known better then letting her heart follow-up on a work-crush. She was smart with Nick, she should have done the same thing with Luke. If she did, she would not be in this situation where she watched him leave in his car now so she could see him again tomorrow in the office and pretend nothing happened.

She sighted and went to the door when she got a text from Flynn.

“This ship is not sinking, I have an idea!”

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs referenced:  
> * Bright by Julie and The Phantoms Cast (mentioned without the title)
> 
> Okay. This is the end but it really is not THE END. I have Luke's POV planned next for those 5 chapters (keep an eye out for something titled "Fool is in Love") and after that we need something to follow-up on Flynn's plan.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


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